


the body lies

by fab_ia



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Coming Out, Trans Female Character, Trans Male Character, i guess, t r a n s, trans Jacobi, trans kepler, trans maxwell, uhh tw for conversion therapy?? its briefly mentioned, yes that's right - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 11:06:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10965948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fab_ia/pseuds/fab_ia
Summary: It's a slip of the tongue, that's all.





	the body lies

“Oh, come now Doctor,” Kepler says with a manic grin on his face. “It's only a little blood! Man up a little, won't you?”

 

Maxwell squeezes her eyes shut at the last sentence, and she feels Jacobi stiffen beside her, hears him growl a little in his throat. 

 

“What the  _ hell _ ,” he cries, and confusion flashes across Kepler's face for a moment before Jacobi has him pressed against the wall, elbow at his throats and one hand pinning his wrist alongside his head. 

 

“Daniel, it's-” Maxwell starts quietly, but Jacobi shakes his head.

 

“No, it's not. It's  _ not _ fine.”

 

“Mr Jacobi, I don't know what you think you're doing,” Kepler says, his face unreadable, “but I suggest you learn to control yourself.”

 

“Well, I suggest you learn to not be such an asshole!”

 

Maxwell looks between the two men and notices the reversal to normal- Jacobi's the dangerous one and Kepler's the one who’s made a mistake, even if he doesn't know what he's done. 

 

“I have no-”

 

“Cut the shit, Colonel. You know  _ exactly  _ why that wasn't okay,” Jacobi says, and Maxwell can see how he's itching to reach for his gun, for a reason to start a fight. 

 

“But it  _ is  _ only a little blood,” Kepler says, and she can see him straining to put the pieces together, but he can't quite manage. 

 

“Colonel, you  _ know  _ that she's-”

 

“That I'm trans,” Maxwell says, and Kepler's eyes widen as his gaze moves to her. Unmoving behind Jacobi and with a carefully composed expression, she looks dangerous. Deadly. 

 

“You're trans,” he says flatly, and Jacobi backs away to stand beside Maxwell as Kepler runs a hand through his hair, whispering “she's  _ trans _ ” under his breath. 

 

“Is that a problem for you?” she asks in a voice that drips with fake-politeness, and Kepler takes a moment before he brings his eyes back to hers. 

 

“Why would that be a problem for me? You've met me, right?”

 

“You're a straight cis guy with an affinity for guns, sir. Forgive me for not thinking you're going to be the most  _ accepting _ .”

 

Kepler is quiet for a moment, staring at her,  _ daring  _ her to challenge him, before he looks to the ground and laughs. 

 

“Sir, if you're about to make a joke about her being the ‘token minority’, you need to know that I'm trans as well,” Jacobi says hurriedly, eyes widening as he grabs Maxwell’s hand in a show of support. 

 

“So you’re both trans?” Kepler asks when he eventually looks back up, uncomfortable silence finally broken. 

 

“Yeah,” Maxwell and Jacobi say in unison, sharing an opinion for probably the first time ever. 

 

“Jesus take the fuckin’ wheel,” Kepler says, and Maxwell starts a little because she's never heard him swear before, somehow. 

 

“S-sir?” she says, because she knows he has his gun, and he’s unpredictable on a good day. 

 

“Are you telling me,” he says, “that Goddard put their  _ only three trans employees  _ on a team together?”

 

There's another silence following his words. Because the answer is “yes”, that much is clear, but the rest of the information in that sentence needs a moment to be processed. 

 

“I-”

 

“ _ What, _ ” Jacobi breathes, and Kepler and Maxwell both turn to stare at him, his eyes wide and his back against the wall. Maxwell didn't even notice he'd let go of her hand. 

 

“Mr Jacobi, are you-”

 

“No, I'm  _ not _ . I'm not. I- how  _ old  _ were you when-”

 

“I was ten,” Kepler says in a low voice, and the undertone of bitterness and abject misery in his voice makes Maxwell shiver. 

 

“Sir,” she says, stopping herself when she realised that she doesn't know how to finish the sentence. 

 

“I was ten, and my parents- well,” he says with a hollow chuckle. “My parents didn't like it  _ one bit _ .”

 

“Colonel, I’m sorry,” Jacobi says, biting his lip. 

 

“Long story short?” Kepler says with a tiny, sad smile. “That's why I don't remember anything from 1987. The year may as well have never happened.”

 

“Wait,” Jacobi says with a frown, “what do you-”

 

“Conversion therapy,” Maxwell whispers, horrified. “You mean conversion therapy.”

 

Jacobi makes a sound beside her, and she can't tell if it's sympathy or pity for Kepler, but the man only closes his eyes and smiles tightly. 

 

“When you were  _ ten _ ,” Jacobi says, and he sounds a little like he's going to be sick. Maybe he is. 

 

“Yes, Mr Jacobi. I was ten,” Kepler says, and the worst thing about it is that he doesn't sound disgusted or even  _ affected  _ by it. 

 

“Sir, that's- that’s so fucked up-” 

 

“You started lying to them,” Maxwell realises, and it makes everything worse. “You just lied to them and told them that-”

 

She cuts herself off and wipes her forehead, her chest tightening as she realises that even her boss has a tragic villain backstory. 

 

“It made it stop,” Kepler says with a sense of finality, and Jacobi's breath is shaking beside her and she realises that none of them are okay, that none of them have been okay for  _ years- _

 

“It's why I tried to join the Air Force,” Jacobi whispers, and he sounds broken. “I thought that was bad, but-”

 

“None of us have it worse than another. We've all suffered, okay?”

 

The silence that follows her words is evidence that the other two  _ know  _ that, and that they understand. They all understand. 

 

Maybe that's why they all met in the first place. 


End file.
